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His Rejected Mate (Game Of Wolves Book 3) 79
A knot of worry filled my stomach. They did not look pleased. There was no hiding the marks on our necks. Whatever reaction I’d been hoping for was obviously not going to happen. This would not end well. In their minds, I was the last person they’d have chosen to be their daughter’s mate.But I’d be damned if I let them rain on Kira’s parade and ruin her happiness. While Kolton and Kira continued talking, I hurried inside to discuss things with her parents. Maybe I could smooth this over before they ruined what should be the happiest day of their daughter’s life.“Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Durst. I trust you slept well,” I said as I stepped into the kitchen.Her dad strode toward me, his finger shaking as he pointed at Kira and Kolton through the window. “I suppose you’re gonna come in here with some crock of shit about asking for my blessing? I hope not since, apparently, it’s already too late.”Kira was mine, and I was hers. Her father or not, I would protect what was mine. I leaned int
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It warmed my heart. I loved my parents, but Wyatt was right—they had to understand the world was changing. Things wouldn’t continue the way they had before.My whole life, I’d thought I wasn’t good enough for my pack. Not worthy of my family’s legacy. A broken shifter and a monster. Wyatt had seen beyond all that and showed me I was more. He’d always protected me, even when I didn’t want him to. I’d been a brat and a bitch to him, but his loyalty had never wavered. I was lucky to have him as my mate.Leaving Kolton by the door, I stepped into the kitchen and cleared my throat. My parents were almost cowering under Wyatt’s fierce glare. When they noticed me, they almost flinched, and I saw shame on their faces.Wyatt spun in surprise, shoulders relaxing at the sight of me. “Kira? Hey. Did you…” He trailed away, and his worry seeped into me.“Yeah, I heard. Most of it, anyway.”The shame on my parents’ faces deepened.“Mom? Dad?” I said. “I will always look out for you and the pack. I’l
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He grinned, and the love he felt for me rushed through me, as did the happiness he felt. It still boggled my mind that we truly were fated mates.“I agree wholeheartedly,” Kolton said, slugging Wyatt in the shoulder. “I’m really happy for you guys. Though, it’ll take some getting used to you two being a couple. I mean, now I can’t go and complain to you when one of you irritates me, so that sucks.”“I’m really glad you’re looking at the important things. I’m very sorry for your loss.” I laughed at him.“You know what I mean,” Kolton said, bumping against me. “Even if it takes Mom and Dad a little while to come around, I think you’re a good match. Hell, I think you’re fated to be together.”“I really wish you could have figured that out before you punched me at the mega-fans event,” Wyatt grumbled.Kolton shrugged and gave Wyatt a cheesy grin. “Hey, I was looking out for my baby sister.” He went mock-serious and leveled a finger at Wyatt. “And don’t think for a second I won’t do it aga
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“It’s not that.” He looked at our claiming marks again. “It’s just that, now that we know the fated connections were all wrong, I’ve been thinking.”“About?” I asked, eyebrows raised.“When I was rejected, it sort of broke my heart. Almost ruined me, but that was only because it was set up through the blood test. I assumed, as everyone did, that these tests were blessed by Heline and set in stone.” Abel licked his lips and looked away.A small smile tugged at my lips. “There’s someone you want to see, isn’t there?”Abel nodded. “A girl. A really good friend, but, well, now that I know the mate I was originally paired with wasn’t really my mate, I thought I could find her. We’d always had this really intense connection. It’s why were such good friends. I’ll be honest, I did the blood test hoping I’d get paired with her. Maybe, uh, maybe I can still have that happy ending. What if she’s the one I’m meant to be with?”I hated being the voice of reason and raining on his hope. “I don’t kn
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I looked into his eyes and nodded. “Let’s do it.”We shifted and joined the charge. The battle began in a small valley formed by an ancient, long-dead river. The Haveners and Wyatt’s pack were the first to initiate contact, slamming into their opponents with the awful sounds of war—fists and claws on skin, jaws on flesh, screams of pain and rage, howls, snarls, growls, and cries of terror. It was so much worse than I’d thought it would be. This was somehow worse than the attack on Simon’s lab. It was more personal, more visceral.Even as I waded into battle, biting and clawing at the shifters charging toward me, I couldn’t help but notice that only a third of the amassed warriors had charged. The rest stood high up on the hill, watching. Were they reinforcements that would join if the initial force faltered?Jaws snapped at my throat, ripping me out of my thoughts. I tumbled into the wolf, biting its chest in response and tearing a great chunk of flesh from it. Beside me, Eli blasted
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“Yeah, that’s our alpha!” Darius called out from where he stood beside a few Eleventh Pack warriors.“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes. I was not the alpha. We didn’t even have an alpha leader.Kira looked at me, a sardonic grin on her face.With a sigh, I said, “If anyone wants to join the pack, I’ll talk to them shortly. Until then? Sit your asses down. That way, we don’t need to worry that the fighting will start again.”The group settled down while members of our forces surrounded them to make sure no one got any ideas about going back on their word.Gavin ran up to me and Kira, a shit-eating grin on his face. “I can’t believe we did it.”“Do we have you to thank for this?” I asked, my voice monotone.He nodded eagerly. “Once word went through the pack that I’d survived The Reject Project and returned home, a lot of them looked at me with more respect than they ever had before. They all thought I was dead. Seeing me come back was, like, a miracle or some
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“Are we too late to kick ass?” Zoe asked. “We went to your house first, but the people there said everyone was here getting ready for a fight.” She glanced around at the wounded and bleeding and frowned. “I guess we missed the fun, huh?”“The Ninth Pack is done,” I said. “They’ve splintered into at least three new packs. Kira wants to go after Simon now.”“The Ninth Pack has splintered?” Mika asked, horrified wonder on his face.“Yeah. It’s happening faster and faster.” I said. “I got word around fifteen minutes ago that there are rumors of a civil war within the Fifth Pack. I think Kira’s theories are coming true.”“If we want this over as soon as possible, with the least bloodshed, we have to find Simon,” Kira said. “Until he’s off the board, there’s still a chance he can use his past research to make more of those weapons and creatures. Just because we destroyed his lab on Bloodstone doesn’t mean he’s forgotten everything he did there.”“Okay,” Mika said slowly. “Where do we start?
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“The Ninth Pack still has some members who are loyal to Jayson. We watched them run off at the end of the battle. If we leave, we’ll need someone here to help out if they decide to attack again.” I turned to Zoe. “Why don’t you help, Zoe? The Haveners know and trust you, and Kira’s packmates know you as well. It would be a huge help to know we’ve got people we trust here.”Zoe’s jaw clenched as I spoke. I could see she wanted to argue, but she must have heard the desperation in my voice. I did not want my mate to deal with the heartache of losing her friend if something went wrong.At last, Zoe rolled her eyes and huffed a sigh. “Fine. I can take a hint, I guess. But, only if I get to keep my sexy bodyguard around.” She tugged Mika close.I looked at Mika, the two of us having an unspoken conversation as we stared into each other’s eyes. Finally, he nodded, and smiled down at Zoe. “You got it. We’ll hold the fort down while you guys are gone.”The four of us made our way back to Kira’
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Who knew what the future held? Maybe things would look even more different in a few years. After all, look how much had changed in a few short months.I walked down to get a better view of everyone. So many familiar faces. Chelsey and Crew, of course. Mika, with Zoe snuggled right up against him. J.D. and Leif, holding hands. Leif’s body, face, and attitude were stronger and healthier than during our final days on Bloodstone Island. It had taken weeks of intensive work with spell casters, healers, and psychologists, but he’d fully recovered. No longer feral, he’d begun working with J.D. to form a nonprofit company to help shifters who were in danger of going feral or who had recently slipped over. He wanted to give everyone the same help he’d been given.Abel had come with his new girlfriend, the woman he’d always thought should have been his fated mate. My brother Kolton stood beside Eli, their hands clasped together. Eli was even more beautiful than before. After we’d revealed all t
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I needed to speak to Kira alone. Now that everything was wrapping up, I had to see how she was doing. Taking her hand, I led her back down the hallway to a private alcove. I kissed her, my lips lingering on hers for longer than necessary. All the stress of the last few days—hell, the last few weeks—finally felt like it was easing. Now we would have time to think and recover.“How are you?” I asked. “After what Simon did to you in there?”Watching her turn into a mindless animal had frightened me even more than when she’d attacked me. Seeing those soulless eyes glaring down at me while she snapped and growled had damn near broken my heart.Kira took a steadying breath and nodded. “For a minute or two there, I really thought I might kill you. I had no control. The idea of killing my own fated mate was horrifying. I don’t think I’ve ever been that terrified in my life. But it’s over.” That beautiful smile returned to her face. “Whatever Lucina did broke that spell. I don’t think I’ll eve
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The elevator trip was spent in silence, each of us basking in the other’s happiness and relief. Kira’s emotions bounced through my mind, and I was ecstatic that we hadn’t lost this deep, binding connection.At the ground floor, the doors slid open and we were met with two voices, one mewling and begging, the other pissed.“Told your ass not to run, didn’t I? And my name is fucking August, not Autumn!”What the hell was going on?“Please, you must let me go, you must. I have fans. Oh, gods, it hurts. What do you want? Money? I can get you girls. Boys, if that’s your speed? Whatever you want!”Von?I turned to look at Kira, and her eyes were as shocked as mine. We sprinted from the elevator and around the corner. Von was pinned to the wall with the broken leg of a chair. The makeshift stake pierced him in the shoulder rather than the heart. August stood before him, using a hand to hold the vampire’s head up. Seeing us coming down the hall, he let Von go, letting the host dangle six inch
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Movement caught my eye, and I glanced at our friends. August was talking hurriedly to Crew, who nodded and took over control of the camera. August then rushed over to take a seat at the table while Crew zoomed the camera in close to August’s face.“Good afternoon, world. I hope you enjoyed the latest episode of the new show, What the Fuck? I’m your host, August Evander.“Now that I have a captive audience, I have some cats—er, dogs—to let out of the bag. I’m sure you’ll all enjoy this. We all love dirt. Let’s spill the tea, shall we?”August rambled off the information he’d dug up, starting with Crew’s parents. He proceeded to discuss the Tranquility Council’s corruption, the assassinations carried out by Tranquility operatives, pay-offs, embezzling, blackmailing, paid-off judges, murders, and more. Nearly every alpha and beta from the upper packs were named in some dirty dealing or another.At first, we stood transfixed by August’s rapid-fire delivery, but eventually, the board membe
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Heline turned and registered the camera. A mix of emotions flashed across her face--confusion, understanding, shock, anger, fear, rage. Her face was even paler than before as she took in the truth. Millions had seen and listened to her admit to all she’d done.Behind me, Wyatt chuckled. “After all this, I can’t believe I’m happy to see a camera.”Heline’s eyes widened, and I thought she was going to unleash a tirade on us. But instead, she grinned and laughed along with Wyatt.“Yes, yes, yes, so funny,” she chuckled. “Of course I knew that camera was there. Do you really think the great Heline would let anything happen to her acolytes? I care deeply for them. I would never allow harm to come to them for something I allegedly did.”“Really?” I asked dryly.“I fully intended to make the fated mate pairings right again. I always did, my dear girl,” Heline added.The way she called me dear girl made my guts go watery and cold. The smile on her lips was no longer jovial. It looked like the
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Stop! Please no, don’t hurt him. Gods, please stop, I screamed out at myself from deep in my mental prison, but through my internal screams, I watched as the jaws that had once belonged to me snapped and bit at Wyatt. He managed to hold me back, his hands under my jaw, but I was strong and he’d been caught unaware. I couldn’t even hear his thoughts or emotions now. All I could see was the terror in his eyes as my teeth drew nearer his neck.“Enough!” a shout erupted from behind me.Even in the manic feral state of my body, whatever controlled me turned to see the mousy woman standing. She lifted her arms and a flash of magic shot forward, surrounding me in a net of darkness, the strands of it digging painfully into me. With a jerk of her hand, I was hauled away from Wyatt, leaving him blessedly safe.Inside the strange magical net, Simon’s influence melted away, the weird connection between us shattering. Suddenly, I was free. Freer than I’d felt since that night all those years ago.
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“I can’t die like this,” he gasped. “My fans. They’re watching. If I die on air, it will be appalling.”Ignoring Von’s pleas, Wyatt said, “Call for Heline, Von.”Von’s murmured begging ceased. “Excuse me?”“Of every person on this show, you’ve been around the longest. If anyone knows the moon goddess, it’s you. You see her at the end of every damned season. Call her. Tell her to get her ass down here. Now.”“But…but…but,” Von stammered. “My boy, I can’t simply call to a goddess—aah!” Von’s words cut off in a shriek as Wyatt dug the pencil in deeper.“Von,” Wyat said with a sad shake of his head, “I am not a fan of yours. Please don’t piss me off. I’ve staked enough vamps in my day to know exactly how scared you are of this pencil.”I couldn’t take my eyes off Von’s face. The sheer terror I saw there was both sad and cathartic. He’d put us through so much shit, had giggled, laughed, and applauded over it. Now he was getting a taste of the danger he loved—and it seemed he wasn’t a fan.
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Every time I tried to open my mouth, nothing came out. I must have looked guilty beyond belief. Wyatt turned toward me and saw the look of horror in my eyes. The fingers of his mind drifted into mine, and an instant later, he spun in his chair, angry eyes leveling on Simon.“He’s doing something to her,” Wyatt snapped.Simon adjusted his glasses and laughed. “Me? I’m doing nothing. Perhaps Ms. Durst is simply speechless with guilt for her crimes. Have you thought about that, Mr. Rivers?”Veins bulged at my neck as I tried to force words from my mouth, but it was like a brick wall had been built between my voice box and my mouth. I stared down at the table, at the pad of paper and sharpened pencil I had before me, trying to make sense of what was happening. Around the room, the other guests and board members glared at me with dark, accusing eyes.A hand touched my leg. Firm yet gentle, gripping my thigh. The fingers cool even through my pants. Von’s assistant. Surprised, I glanced down
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Chapter 25 Kira The hesitancy I felt as we walked toward the table nearly made me freeze in place, but I pushed forward. I would not let these assholes see me weak.Before each seat was a legal pad and pencil, as if they expected us to take notes or something. Wyatt took his seat, and I sat beside him, the mousy little assistant on my other side. The woman still hadn’t said a word, which didn’t surprise me. If I had to be around Von Thornton all day, I’d keep my mouth shut, too. The guy never seemed to stop talking. The poor woman had probably given up on speaking while at work.Simon’s eyes were still on me. Even without looking in his direction, I could feel them boring into me. In the deepest recesses of my mind, I could still catch small hints and whispers of his voice, calling to me. It was less like the connection Wyatt and I shared and more like a faint memory. Any hope I’d had that I’d imagi
